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The Little Lady Bug

WHATTA WEEKEND!!! It was long. It was fun. It was super hot. It was full of costumes. It was a little emotional – in a very good way. And now, it’s over. Another Alumni has come and gone…and I have a few good photos to share. Just one of my many favorite parts of Alumni was another chance to see my Little Lyn-Dee Lady Bug. So I thought I’d end the weekend with the rest of the photographs from Lyn-Dee’s baptism. I do have Alumni photos on the “to do” list, but they are not next, and not close to the top. So sorry, family. Good things come to those that wait. 😉

And speaking of waiting….my A Lori and U Tom have paid their dues!! Here’s the cutest little thing you’ve ever seen…..

After a long morning in the sun and some afternoon quiet time, it was time to get ready for the pool! We took a break halfway through getting ready time to play the drums.

She is the cutest punk rocker I’ve ever seen!

Before we took off for the pool, I spotted these precious little rain boots. We had to put them on and try them outside. 🙂

Lyn-Dee did FANNNN-tastic at her baptism! If you haven’t seen the video, please watch it here. She gives Pastor Craig a little push.

Thank you again for including us in Lyn-Dee’s big weekend. It was wonderful to see you all again over Alumni too. Love you BIG BUNCHES!!!!

The Sweetest Smile…

It’s been absolutely killing me that I haven’ had a chance to get these photographs off of my camera and onto the blog. The week has been veerrrrry busy and it ain’t over yet. However! I got a little boost of energy tonight when Beauy brought a dead animal to the back door and sent me into hysteria mode. Sooooooo gross. Why do things like this happen when Drew is working nights? Needless to say we left it outside (I don’t even have the decency to tell you what it was. I wouldn’t look at it long enough to figure it out.) brought the proud predator inside and banned him to the sunroom b/c I was sure he was stinky. Again, I didn’t get close enough to confirm this. All this adrenaline told me to head up to the computer and satisfy the family by posting photographs of our FAVORITE LITTLE CHINA GIRL!!! These photographs made me smile more and more as I went through them. This is, of course, a teaser…I have more that will melt your heart, so stay tuned. And all of this Lyn-Dee goodness made me totally forget about the little surprise waiting for Drew outside when he gets home. (Almost forget that is…)

Look at what a little girl she is?!?! That HAIR!! Lyn-Dee you are more beautiful than you will ever know. This is a completely different child compared to the time that I was there when she arrived home for the first time. If you missed Lyn-Dee’s homecoming, check it out here.

This little girl loves to throw rocks into the creek from the bridge on the trail. She loves the baby pool, but doesn’t like her face wet (what woman does?). She enjoys music and will dance her socks off when she hears it. She loves to do the shoulder shake. She loves Trooper and won’t let any other children pet “her dog”. She was fascinated with Drew’s beard. She loves to pretend that she is a puppy and likes her belly rubbed. She likes M&Ms. And does the best “Chinese face” you’ve ever seen. This little girl is truly a blessing.

Thank you U Tom and A Lori for having Drew and I down to see you and for including us at her baptism. It was a FANTASTIC weekend. Can’t wait to show you more! LOVE YOU!

Nicole and Jason’s Tiny Sneak Peek!

Nicole and Jason are getting married! And I’m beyond thrilled to be taking their wedding photographs this summer. I was in Michigan for work and had the opportunity to stop in and see their wedding venue. It was GORGEOUS!! Stay tuned for breath taking wedding photos! We took advantage of our time together and got a few engagement shots in too. We were in one of my most favorite places in the world (next to Grand Haven and West Virginia of course) Royal Oak!! Enjoy this little sneak peek. It will leave you craving for more!

Isn’t it perfect that “She & Him” are on the marquee? All together now….aawwwwwww!! 🙂

I had to show off Nicole’s ring. Jason did a FANTASTIC job! It’s gorgeous!

I can’t wait to show the both of you more from our evening together. Thank you for your enthusiasm and patience. You two are the best! Big thanks to Nicole’s stylist as well. 🙂 More to come soon!

Meet a Few More of Jake’s Crew!

Mr. Jake has been a favorite feature on my little blog for quite some time now. There are a few things that I can’t believe: 1.) He’s turning one next week and it seems like I JUST did his new born photos three days ago. 2.) He’s walking. And 3.) Why I was surprised that his extended family is just as much fun as he is. Duuh!! When Robyn contacted me about taking family photographs as a surprise for her in-laws, I was very excited for the opportunity to meet more of their family. They did not disappoint! 🙂 Check out a few of my favorites from our day together.

Jake’s older cousins are precious!! These girls were so well-behaved and they were a breeze to work with. I foresee lots of fun being had between these four at future family gatherings.

This one is my FAVORITE!! Perfectly un-posed!

We were at a park that Robyn had found and it was gorgeous!! Lots of unique places for photographs.

Again…we’re not alllll looking at the camera. But this capture’s the true energy that is produced when you have your big family together. 🙂

Thank you so much to everyone that put up with the weather, the wet grass and “just ooonne more picture” (my famous last words.) It was a pleasure!

Daily Yard Progression…

You’ve seen The Deck….now see the surroundings!

When we moved into our home, we were informed by our neighbors of our home’s rather bleak and sometimes dark history. The short side of the story is that there wasn’t any adult supervision here and high school kids were running amok. The saddest part of the story is that the yard got zero attention. We are still picking up glass – because breaking glass is soooo much fun for unsupervised children without consequences – and the once-well-tended gardens were in a state of despair. See Exhibit A:

(Don’t mind the tarp…that was covering all the lumber for The Deck at the time.) And see Exhibit B:

Now I’m proud to say that I dug up this bed and found many little treasures in it. Like mustard and mayo packettes – still full! Old tomato plants, rocks the size of dinosaur eggs, and random scraps of metal. Not to mention all the creepy crawlers that hadn’t seen the light of day in probably a decade. Finally….it turned into this:

Yay!! I’m so excited to see if I can actually grow something! I planted the hot pink Peonies in the corner because they smell like my Grandma Dee and I miss her. I planted strawberries, because I’m a glutton for punishment – people tell me they are extremely difficult to grow. I say “bring it on.” I planted two Roma Tomato plants and one Red Bell Pepper plant (Drew wanted the Red Bell Peppers and I can never say no to him.) I planted Basil, Cilantro, Chives, and Green Onions….grow babies….grow.

Drew helped me with all the yucky stuff that we had to put in compost piles. It takes much longer to clean up and stuff those bags when you have little arms. 🙂  (That was my plea anyway and it worked!)

We’re just about done out there for a while. We’re going to give our backs and pocketbook a break and see what pops up. Now if only I could get Beau to stay out of those flower/veggie beds. The poor thing has no clue why he used to be allowed in there and now every time he gets in I come flying out the back door like a mad woman.

And who could resist a shot of this little girl. Curled up in the most curious places.

It’s almost May! It’s almost May! That means the countdown to my Marathon is less than 5.5 weeks away. Ah! This will be my new running mantra for the week.

Workshop Details!

Better late than never! Right?

It’s taken me quite a while to sift through my favorite photographs from the workshop that I attended a couple weeks ago. Both Kevin Keefer and Heather Claypool did a great job! Thanks for all your hard work. 🙂 This was the first workshop that I have attended and my favorite part was meeting fellow photogs. It’s so refreshing to talk to other people that share the same joy, passion, excitement and frustration as I do. Also, Kevin and Heather couldn’t have asked for better models. Kira and Jason were PERFECT!! What made this event even more special was that Kira and Jason actually got engaged a week before this workshop. So the photographs show real emotion. I really need to learn to pull it together when I’m photographing weddings. I get so teary eyed! Even at this workshop – and it wasn’t A REAL WEDDING!

Here are a few of my favorites.

Aren’t they GORGEOUS!?!

I love Kira’s expression here. She looks so rockstar-ish!

We were at the Pinnacle Golf Club in Grove City….beautiful!!! The sky couldn’t get any more blue. I was really happy with the reflections that I got in the windows here. Don’t mind the huge red clips in the back of Kira’s dress. We had to do some on-site alterations. 🙂

Jason…you were such a great sport! Their smiles are so natural here. You can’t even tell that they were surrounded by 9 photographers chomping at the bit to get their turn in front of them.

It was such a pleasure to meet everybody! Kira and Jason…best wishes to you! (I have a feeling your wedding will be a blast!) Big thanks to Kevin and Heather. I know you guys put a lot of work into everything. I had a great time! 🙂

Meet Colin!

At the beginning of April, I had the honor and pleasure of photographing a good friend of mine and her sweet young family. Kelly and I went to college together and met in our sorority Sigma Kappa. Among the many good college times that were had by all, Facebook helped us keep in touch after school. When Kelly told me that Colin was turning one and she wanted me to do his photographs, I was ecstatic! It was also a great chance for me to meet her husband and get caught up on her new life. Kelly and Scott met after school, so I hadn’t had a chance to meet him. When I saw photos of them on Facebook, I knew that Colin would be precious! And he is!!

Look at those eyes!! Look at that hair!! I loved him instantly.

Kelly found a park for us to go to near downtown Northville in MI. I had never been to Mill Race Village so I was very excited to scope out this new location. It was perfect! Old buildings and bright colors really brightened the early spring background we were working with. Not to mention Colin’s fantastic argyle sweater. Don’t you want to eat him up?

Like any normal model…Colin started to get hungry after all his hard work. This made for hilarious photos.

Who doesn’t love cheese poofs?!?

Kelly, I love that family photo of you guys! The wind kicked up and Scott predicted this photo would look like a music video. I say it’s even better!

The wagon shot is one of my favorites. Such a fantastic part of childhood – wagon rides!

Dad’s give the best rides….Colin is either preparing for liftoff here or just coming in for a landing.

Colin started losing patience with everyone involved in his afternoon…and an outfit change didn’t help. But playing in the dirt did!

Kelly and Scott…thank you so much for spending the afternoon with me and letting me get to know your precious little guy. I had such a wonderful time. The love in your family radiates through every picture. Can’t wait to see what life brings to Colin in his second year! xoxoxo

DIY Deck

When I say DIY – I really mean, fall in-love with an amazing handy man with a hellavu carpenter for a father.

When Drew first came to me and said “We are going to build a deck.” A million things ran through my mind. First, who is we? How long will this take? How much labor will be involved? How much is this going to cost? Will someone end up in the hospital? We don’t have any tools, so how will this be possible? Will there be enough room for me to sunbathe on this deck? And to make a long story short…I will answer all of the above questions

1. The whole neighborhood, a wonderful set of parents and more than one trip to Weber Market for beer.

2. 2.5 days

3. More than you’d care to know.

4. It’s on a credit card – but it was surprisingly less than we thought…think $1,300.

5. No…but there are many sore bodies on our block

6. TGFD – Thank Goodness For Dustin!

7. YES!!!

Here is our picture documentation of the whirlwind weekend. FIRST! Drew’s parents arrive with the necessities – T-bone steaks, lunch meat and snacks. (YES! – One day we hope that they arrive and the need for them to bring groceries is non-existant.) It’s Friday evening and they get started right away….

Once the deck area was staked out and the supplies arrived on the scene…the boys got started digging. We recruited the help of our neighbor Dustin and Mike. I’ve realized it’s hard for boys to stay away from loud construction noises. Our good friend Tommy also came over to help us relocate the AC unit and move some electric wires around. Thanks Tommy!!

They worked well into the night….

It was freezing cold that night so Jo Lynn and I mostly watched from inside. I realized right away that if I didn’t have a power tool, I was really just in the way.

The next morning I had a photography workshop (more on THAT later!) so when I arrived home at 4:30pm, I walked into my back yard to see THIS!

You can imagine the squeals of delight!

I love this pictures of Drew’s dad, Richard. Without him, we would have  been lost!

Sunday morning brought more trips to Lowe’s and the decision for Rich and Jo Lynn to stay one more night. The boys were bound and determined to finish this deck. So Jo Lynn and I took off to run a few errands and round up a feast for the fellas that night. We stopped at Garden Ridge where I got a steal of a deal on a new umbrella for the back porch. We arrived home to see THIS!

I love how every time I left and returned…mass productivity occurred while I was away. It made me so happy! Now I actually did have a job to do on Sunday…I was in charge of putting the furniture together that I had purchased for the front porch and deck. Drew was in charge of building the deck…I was in charge of decorating it. 🙂 I love the posts that we used on the railings…it gave it such a professional look. I was even shocked that they put railings on the steps! It looks like a totally different house with the deck on it. By Monday afternoon….we were looking at THIS!

Do you see that little doggy in the window? He loves his new deck.

Isn’t it gorgeous? Never in a million years would I have imagined that THIS would be our new deck. The boys went above and beyond and produced a fantastic outdoor space. I was surprised HGTV didn’t show up to document their progress. This is well-worth a 30 minute TV special.

Do you like my umbrella!? See…I wasn’t totally worthless on this project. I decorated.

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU to everyone who had a hand in helping us. We couldn’t have done it without you! This deck has added emotional and monetary value to our home…and it will get a ton of use. After Drew’s mom and dad left (again, we love you guys! Thank you!) we got to work on cleaning up the yard and dug out the new flower bed. Our little yard is coming together and we can’t wait to have you over to see it.

So no one went to the hospital….we didn’t spend our life savings…they got it done in 2.5 days (still can’t believe that) and I can’t wait to layout on this big beautiful deck.

Ahhh, Spring Has Sprung

The kids are so happy!! The drama of the Final Four is over and spring is in the air.

First, we went, we saw, we celebrated, we cried and it was a painful ride home. Big kudos to Indianapolis. The downtown celebration for the Final Four was fantastic! We spent the majority of the day at Scotty’s Brewhouse, which was home base for Mountaineer fans. We got there in time to hear the pep band and see the cheerleaders. YAY! The place was packed until the MSU v Butler game started, which is when all the lucky fans who spend money like water got to go to the game. (The reason I say this is because the lowest price we found tickets for were $400.00 each. Really?)

I don’t need to rehash the game. The tears fell when Butler went down and fell even harder as Duke ran the score up on us. (Thanks, Coach K.) Luckily we were with great friends and were able to dance our cares away as we celebrated with the Butler fans. Again…the car ride home was painful.

But we came home to gorgeous weather…our back yard is our favorite place to be right now. Beau and Sasha both beg to be let outside. Beau is allowed…Kitty is not. Actually I’m headed to the pet store later this week to purchase a cat harness. (Don’t laugh…these actually work.) I can’t stand the fact that she’s stuck inside while Beau is out milking the outdoors for all their worth.

So how can we keep her indoors when Beau is outside sniffing the air and frolicking in the grass? I’m not 100% sure how this will all go down. I wonder how Beau will react? Thinking his small sister is out to play? I’ll document the excitement. I hope we all survive.

I also hope that spring has sprung where you are. Drew has been hard at work outside fixing up our yard and planning the birth of our deck. Yes….we are building a deck this weekend. We. Are. So. Excited. Again…I’m sure I’ll document our journey so stay tuned for big developments. We have enlisted the help of our neighbors and friends who can be bribed with pizza and beer. (Which is almost everyone we know.) Wish us luck!